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Here’s the Chris Rock Joke About Will Smith's Wife That Caused Total Chaos at the Oscars

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  March 27, 2022 11:00 PM

I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages for obvious reasons. It’s a gathering of the most liberal, most privileged, and most detached people on the planet. It’s Diva land. Don’t get me wrong. I love movies. I’ll continue to watch them, but I don’t need to be lectured for three-plus hours by woke Hollywood types who haven’t interacted with normal people in ages. 

At the same time, maybe I, or anyone else who refuses to watch awards shows anymore post-Trump, should have because total pandemonium ensued when Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

What the hell just happened? 

Smith is seen chuckling a bit. Pinkett Smith is clearly not happy. As Rock continues with his bit, Smith walks onto the stage and slaps Rock. The delays cut the visibly angry Smith, though Japanese television caught everything which is included below. 

Rock handled the moment with class calling it, “the greatest night in the history of television.”

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Every year, this event has become more of a trainwreck. 

Now, the other part of this is whether this was staged or not? I’m not so sure. 

Variety reported that during the commercial break Denzel Washington and Will Smith's publicist spoke to the actor. They also noted why Smith probably reacted the way he did regarding Rock's joke:

Will Smith’s publicist Meredith O. Sullivan came by him at the commercial break to have a discussion. Also during the break, Denzel Washington got up to speak to Smith privately.

Pinkett Smith announced last year she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia. The actor said in an Instagram post, “Now at this point, I can only laugh… y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia. Just all of a sudden, one day…it just showed up like that. Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions…Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something. Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!”

Rock ended up awarding the documentary Oscar to Questlove for “Summer of Soul.” Asked in the Oscars press room about Smith smacking Rock, Questlove said, “I’m not talking about that. This is about the Harlem cultural festival.”

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Here's the uncensored version here: